


Contrite

by Jamaican Princess (Rocquellan)



Series: VF Cheating Series [1]
Category: Finder no Hyouteki | Finder Series
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-11-04
Updated: 2011-11-04
Packaged: 2017-10-25 16:54:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/272573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rocquellan/pseuds/Jamaican%20Princess
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Asami broke up with Akihito a year ago, got married and is looking forward to a child, how is Akihito to react when the man wants him back?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Contrite

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER: Yamane Ayano owns recognizable VF characters
> 
> For anybody looking for fluff this is not for you. I wanted to deal with this topic in a logical/practical way (my logic might be different from yours so that's relative ;))
> 
> Contrite
> 
> Adj.
> 
> 1\. Feeling regret and sorrow for one's sins or offenses; penitent.

Takaba Akihito groaned as he rolled over in bed, irritated at the sound of the alarm clock buzzing at 6 in the morning. He lay haphazardly in his bed with his legs splayed on both sides, his head buried under one of his pillows and his hands stretched to the side. He swatted at the snooze button on top of the alarm clock, deftly stopping the noise.

It took a while for him to become use to waking up alone. That is, waking up alone and knowing nobody, or at the very least not the person you want, is or will be there beside you. There was a time when he would wake up alone but could still feel the warmth of another body that was at least present at some time.

Unfortunately, this was the way Akihito woke up most mornings for the past year, to remembering something that was no more, remembering something he’d rather forget.

Deciding he had to get ready for work, he sat up in bed and ran his hands through his mussed up blond hair. With another groan he stood on shaky legs and made his way towards the bathroom to start preparing for the day ahead, no use dwelling on the past.

*************VF************

“Morning Akihito!” Shinji greeted brightly from around his desk outside the Editor’s office.

“Hi Shinji…” Akihito answered enthusiastically to the twenty year old intern with black hair pulled into a short ponytail and wide brown eyes. He stopped by the desk. “…anything good for me today?”

Shinji blushed. “The chief has something lined up just for you. You can go talk to him.”

“Thanks Shinji,” Akihito smiled before walking inside the main office. When he entered he saw the Chief, a lean forty years old man with thinning hair sitting behind his desk littered with piles of papers. There was a pair of reading glasses on his face, which was set in a grim line while reading a particular report.

“Morning,” Akihito greeted after entering and closing the door behind him.

Startled, the agitated man looked up, smiling when he realized it was just the person he wanted to see.

“Aaah, Takaba-san, how are you this morning?”

“Fine, thank you,” Akihito answered before sitting in the chair the man pointed to before him.

The editor took up a file to the side and passed it to Takaba. He opened it and scanned the two pages nestled there: one a photo and one a list of information.

“A restaurant?”

The editor leaned back in his chair and sighed. “Not a restaurant,  _the_  restaurant. I’m sure you’ve heard of the posh Kokyuna Restaurant?”

“Akihito nodded. “It’s by reservation only and the new hot spot for the rich and famous.”

“And it’s only a week old, the official opening is tomorrow and it will be a huge celebration.”

Akihito read to himself the stats of the owner; Takeo Hyato, Forty five years old business man from Roppongi, married ten years to a woman eight years his junior named Takeo Shiori, with two daughters, Takeo Fukio and Takeo Hana.

“So you want me to cover the event for you, right?”

“It’ll be a great opportunity to mix and mingle with the more well off, as well as see if you can develop some sort of relationship with some of them. I’m certain the more resources you have to work with the easier it will be to further your career,” the editor said coolly. One thing he knew for certain was that the kid before him was always looking for a way to move up, to push himself beyond what he was currently capable of and with the right links he’ll meet his goal much quicker.

Akihito would have snorted at the remark even if it was logical, but only because the editor didn’t know he was used to ‘mingling’ with the upscale when he used to frequent  _that_  club. But he quickly shook the thought from his head, his boss was looking out for him and the last thing he wanted was to seem ungrateful. His acceptance must have shown on his face, because he looked up to the editor’s pleased smile.

“I take it you have a decent suit to wear? Or should I put it on the office’s expenses?” the man asked.

“No, I’m fine.” Akihito answered. He tossed all the expensive suits Asami had bought him before for when they would go out sometimes, but he was able to buy two decent suits with his own money and he still had those.

The editor nodded. “Good, it’s a eight tomorrow night, don’t be late.”

“Got it, thanks,” Akihito answered. He left the office after he was dismissed with a wave. He passed Shinji on his way out once again, pleased at the return blush on the young interns face.

******VF******

The restaurant was the definition of posh, with its thick red rug straight through, spacious and homey atmosphere and expensive looking décor. Three quarters of the wall was glass, one entire side a huge fish tank with an insurmountable amount of the little critters of varying colors swimming about.

The people were all dressed to impress and he snapped pictures of a few as he moved about with his camera around his neck; the daughter of the Minister of finance, the son of a popular long time actor and the wife of the Chief of police for the city.

Earlier the owner, with his family by his side cut the white ribbon initiating the official opening and he made sure to get stellar shots of the act; it would look good in tomorrow’s paper. The crowd clapped in congratulations and now here they were, milling about drinking champagne, on the house, while waiting on the their complimentary meal for attending, also on the house throughout the night. Now he saw why the event was by invitation only, and why when he entered there was a single table with his name printed on a card on the top, propped against a singular flower in a white vase to match the red and white table clothes; all tables were assigned. He didn’t go around checking the name tags of all the tables, but he wish he had because then he would have seen that one of the three empty tables was assigned to Asami Ryuichi and Asami Okina, two people had he known he would see would have made him forfeited doing this job…

But it was too late, because he saw them through his viewfinder when they walked through the door, fashionably late while they were greeted politely by the people around them. Asami looked as good as ever. Four years after their relationship and a year after their separation did nothing at all to his features, and his wife looked stunning in a knee length, open back, blue dress that matched her perfectly; it seemed comfortable draped over her pregnant (5-7 months?) belly along with the matching flats on her feet. Her hair was pulled up into a tight bun with ringlet sideburn on each cheek and blue eye shadow to match her dress framing her lashes, which covered bright brown eyes.

Akihito couldn’t deny something in his chest tightened painfully at the sight, and were his arms shaking? But he willed himself to calm down and stay cool, no use getting worked up over spilled milk. He forced his suddenly weak fingers to press the button to take the picture, if he wanted to get over seeing them he had to stop looking, it was way too distracting.

Allowing the camera to dangle from around his neck, he went over to his table and sipped from a glass of water, his throat also felt dry.

Unfortunately, his mind wandered back to that night a year ago when Asami told him he was getting married, and how at the time he only snorted in disbelief, told his ex to go fuck himself and walked away. He didn’t need any explanation nor did he ask for a reason, because nobody forced Asami Ryuichi to do anything and if he said he was getting married, then he was getting married. End of story.

It wasn’t that it hadn’t hurt when he realized that three days later his ex had no intention of coming after him like he normally did whenever he was even a foot away from his side, and that Kirishima, Suoh or any of the other footmen weren’t even watching him anymore, like he was suddenly tossed aside; forgotten, but he knew what Asami was missing and he hoped karma was cruel enough to burn him to a crisp when he realized what he’d given up.

Asami made him strong, and now that strength was working against the man because if he ever thought he’ll cower and drool over him and beg him to take him back he had another thing coming. He wanted a wife, got one and he’ll  _never, ever_  be the one on the side in any relationship, his standards were higher than that.

Akihito didn’t know how long he was sitting at his table lost in his own mind but he realized the light suddenly dimmed, and he looked up to see the owner at the front getting ready to make a speech. He readied his camera and moved closer.

So Asami was one of the partners in the building of the restaurant, he had shares in the business and it wasn’t a surprise, it wasn’t like Asami couldn’t buy all of Tokyo if he wanted to. There was a small spotlight on him and his wife when their names were mentioned and the owner commented on the new addition to their family, for which everyone cheered enthusiastically. He took a picture of them then, noticing how radiant Asami’s wife was, they seemed happy together.

The thing was, that’s when Asami noticed him, because he seemed to still be wary and cautious when having his picture taken and most likely was probably looking to see whose ass he would be shoving a roll of film up this time. The small smile on Asami’s lips faltered a fraction when his golden eyes settled on him and he took great pleasure in offering the man a smile of his own in congratulation.

The two sat back down and Asami never smiled the rest of the night; serves him right.

******VF******

Everybody was shaking the owner and his wife’s hands on the way out of the restaurant. The event was over and people were looking to go home.

The night was good, Akihito could say he enjoyed himself for the most part. It took him a few minutes to gather his camera bag with his things inside and leave the building, there was hardly anybody left.

His car, a silver 2000 Toyota Carina loaned to him by the office was one of the few cars still parked in the parking lot and he paid no heed to the limousine sitting idly close by, everybody at the event was loaded so the limo could be anybody’s, no use getting paranoid. He opened the passenger side of his car and placed his bag on the seat. He closed it and was about to walk around to the driver’s side when a familiar voice drifted to his ears.

“Takaba-san…”

Akihito looked up to the face of a man that was so familiar he couldn’t miss him even if he tried. “Kirishima?”

Kirishima inclined his head with a small curve of his lips. “It’s good to see you again, Takaba-san, how have you been?”

Akihito closed his car door, but he didn’t move from said car. He answered, “I’ve been good, doing odd jobs here and there, just getting by.”

The blond vaguely wondered why he was divulging so much personal information to a man no longer employed to know his personal life, but he figured he was falling prey to some kind of old routine at seeing the man.

Kirishima smiled then. “Good to know.”  _I’m happy you’re not a mess, the boss made a mistake in letting you go._

“So how’s Suoh, did he ever learn to properly cook that one dish he wanted to surprise his girlfriend with?” Akihito asked with a lopsided grin. Teaching Suoh to cook a romantic meal was utter disaster, but it was fun.

Kirishima smiled genuinely then. “His wife now and no, he still burns the duck and the sauce is too tangy, but she doesn’t tell him it’s bad. She accepts him for who he is, bad cooking and all.”

“Glad to know and tell him congrats for me,” Akihito answered. He vaguely wondered why he wasn’t accepted for who he was, why Asami chose to leave. But it was water under the bridge and even though those questions entered his mind occasionally, he always made sure to get rid of them before they could fester into something emotionally draining and damaging; Asami chose to leave, he wasn’t worth so much pain. He was about to say his goodbye when said man’s voice drifted to his ears.

“Kirishima, Akihito.”

Asami advanced with his wife by his side, who was walking cautiously with her swollen stomach before her. At the mention of Akihito she looked at him sharply before glancing nervously at her husband.

So she knows who he is? He didn’t know if that was good or bad.

“Asami, congratulations to you and your wife once again,” Akihito returned. He had to will his racing heart to stay calm, this was not a state of emergency, just his ex and his wife.

“Thank you,” Asami answered before walking up to him. He could tell his wife wanted to leave,  _now_ , but before she opened her mouth to say anything he instructed Kirishima to take her to the car to rest, she needed it.

“Ryuichi, you said we’d leave now, I can’t wait any longer,” the woman whined. She pulled her hand back when Kirishima held it to lead her away and looked at her husband pleadingly while ignoring the other man’s presence.

Asami’s eyes, hard and cold regarded her heatedly. “I said to get in the car so you can rest your feet, I’ll be with you shortly.”

_ Typical Asami, didn’t she know who she was married to? _  Akihito thought to himself. He watched as the woman gave in with a sigh before walking beside Kirishima over to the limo. After she got in Kirishima closed the door before getting in the driver’s seat and he turned his gaze back to Asami, they hadn’t stood this close to each other in a year and Akihito could feel his skin prickle at the proximity. Asami’s eyes were unreadable, as usual, but the fact that he was standing before him said a lot.

“How are you?” Asami’s asked while his golden eyes watched him intently.

“I’m doing exceptionally well by myself, I’m free to do what I feel like and it feels good,” Akihito answered honestly. In other words it didn’t work out  _that_  bad that Asami left him, only that the chest tightening returned and having the man so close made him realize he did miss him a little more than he thought after all.

“I’m glad,” Asami answered before extracting a cigarette and lighting it up before taking a drag, he needed something to calm his own racing heart

The atmosphere was tense and awkward, but Akihito would not back down, not show any weaknesses before this man that hurt him so deeply before. He was positive when his boss told him to develop a relationship with some of the clientele this wasn’t what he had in mind.

“I’m sorry.”

Akihito stared intensely at Asami at that. “Sorry for what?”

“For what I did to you,” Asami answered after taking another drag of his cigarette. When he realized what he thought he wanted wasn’t what he needed, he regretted ever hurting the blond before him.

Akihito drew in a breath and rocked back on his heels. “It’s done and over with, let’s just put it behind us and move on.”

Asami’s eyes narrowed, he was use to getting what he wanted. “Do we have to move on?”

“You obviously did, why shouldn’t I?”

“Because…”

“How far along is your wife?” Akihito asked suddenly, cutting off whatever bullshit reason he was sure Asami would give him for trying to continue what they had before; it was already ruined, in pieces and there was no coming back from it. Asami tipped it over like a house of cards.

Another drag. “Six months.”

Akihito chuckled; he only wanted to know one thing. “Was that why you left? You wanted a child, a woman, a family solely yours?”

“I don’t love her,” Asami answered.  _I love you._

“That wasn’t my question,” Akihito shot back with a frown. An entire year of wondering what he did and now that the man that broke his heart was before him, he couldn’t tell him why?

“What did I do wrong?”

The cigarette stopped halfway to Asami’s lips at that and his eyes narrowed darkly. “What makes you think you did something wrong?”

Akihito snorted. “So I’m not the problem then, it’s you? I guess you did me a favor by leaving then.”

The aura around Asami darkened dangerously at that. “I did you a favor? How is any of this for the better?”

“Ask yourself that, you’re the one who left, married and started a family,” Akihito answered wistfully. “Obviously I wasn’t enough.”

Asami looked away before staring back into those hazel eyes he missed so much, at those lips with a taste he could get drunk off of. “Of course you were enough, more even. You’re the second person I ever fell in love with, I lost the first to the underworld. When I realized where I was heading with you, I was afraid of history repeating itself, so I tried to severe my ties with you to prevent that from happening. I made a huge mistake.”

“A mistake I hope you realize can’t be fixed,” Akihito answered. A child was now involved, this woman would be bound to Asami forever no matter what happens and to be honest he would never fight over a man with his wife; she had rights, he didn’t.

That was not what Asami wanted to hear. “Do I have to find you and force you again? I have no problem in history repeating itself in that regard.”

Akihito knew Asami was serious, but that didn’t change anything. “Whether you force me again or not, you left, married and got your wife pregnant, what amount of coercion do you think will ever make me get over  _that_?”

Asami didn’t answer, but he looked contemplative and a sigh of exasperation left Akihito’s lips, he had to make Asami understand.

“Look, judging from our current conversation I can see what you’re not telling me, and believe me when I say I wish it was that simple to jump back on the train, but we need to be practical about this. It’s not going to work, no matter what we do because I’ll never trust you wholeheartedly again and you’re going to have a child with  _your_  wife, this changes everything. You made your bed, you have to lie in it and I’m not willing to lie in it with you. Sorry, but you’ll have to leave me out of this one, your mistakes are all your own and if I let you off the hook, it will only hurt me more in the end.”

Asami looked at the filter of his cigarette before throwing it on the ground and stepping on it; he got the picture. This is what he loved most about his Akihito, he was headstrong and believed firmly in what was right. Pity those lovable traits weren’t working in his favor right now.

“What would it take…to get you back?”

Akihito smiled a sad smile at that, “I don’t know.”

Without another word the blond turned around, got in his car and drove away. Asami watched him until his car disappeared out of the parking lot. He’d taken up to smoking twice the amount he use to before he pushed his love away. He heard the limo door click open and Kirishima’s voice, shouting for Okina to get back in the car. She barreled over to him and he sighed mentally, he really was suffering for his actions.

“Ryuichi! Who was that young man, what did he want?!” she asked a little hysterically and Asami’s eyes narrowed. She was acting suspiciously.

“How do you know him?” he asked in a dangerous voice.

Okina’s brown eyes widened a fraction before she darted her eyes to the side, she’s always known the name Takaba Akihito.

Asami grabbed her armed and squeeze tightly. He gritted out while she whimpered, “How do you know to feel threatened by him?”

Her eyes welled up with unshed tears before she murmured, “You always call for him in your sleep.”

Her husband didn’t even deny that she should feel threatened by this young man. Something churned in her belly, and whether it was from fear or just the baby moving she couldn’t tell at this point.

Asami let go of her hand and brushed his fingertips over the slowly forming finger bruises; she did nothing wrong and it was his own fault that all this was happening, just like Akihito said. But it was a very hard pill to swallow even if he knew he was at fault.

But he decided to go easy on Okina, he was wrong to pull her into this and for the sake of his child, he’ll try to be a good father, he had his own moral and standards after all.

“Sorry, let’s go home.”

Okina beamed at that, forgetting instantly that her husband nearly broke her arm a moment ago. She had such a handsome and well off older man all to herself and she was pregnant for him, nothing could make her more happy. She didn’t know what she ever did to have such a great man in her life, to her he was perfect and she was grateful to the Gods for his presence. She just hoped discrepancies like Takaba Akihito would be kept away for good.

Hopefully.


End file.
